Mobile operators exonerated from data ‘disappearance

By TINTSWALO BALOYIJOHANNESBURG, (CAJ News) – THE Wireless Application Service Providers’ Association (WASPA) has seemingly absolved mobile network operators from blame over the so-called leakage of data.
Casper de Villiers, WASPA Chairperson, blamed this on the surge in data usage in the country as cellular users spend a declining percentage of their cellphone budgets on voice calls.
“This surge in data usage is behind the data depletion that has generated recent media coverage,” says de Villiers.
“’Data leakage doesn’t exist. It is a technical impossibility. If you consume something, it will be depleted. That’s basic economics,” explains the executive.
With South Africans are abandoning voice-based communication in droves, the organisation predicts less than half of total mobile spend will be on voice calls by the end of this year.
“Consumers are learning how to budget for data usage and will soon realise that data is not ‘disappearing’ from their cellphone accounts,” says de Villiers.
WASPA has been looking out for the interests of the country’s mobile consumers since its inception in 2004.
“We’ll continue to safeguard the interests of cellular users. This includes monitoring the ever-expanding mobile horizon for any potential threats and growing data usage isn’t one of them,” concludes de Villiers.
– CAJ News